This invention relates to shoulder pads for football players of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,158,242, dated Jun. 19, 1979, and 4,295,227, dated Oct. 20, 1981, wherein a pair of inverted plastic arch members having resilient padding attached to the underside thereof are worn over the shoulders of the player wherein the base portion of each arch member is supported on a respective shoulder of the player, and the legs of each arch member extend over the front and back of the player to provide a chest plate portion and a backplate portion, respectively, covering the upper chest and upper back of the player. The chest plate portions of the shoulder pads are laced together while the backplate portions are connected by a parallelogram linkage, whereby the individual arch members are allowed to move slightly with respect to each other to provide freedom of movement and comfort to the player.